2:6 This is what the Lord says:
“Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions 1 –
make that four! 2 – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. 3
They sold the innocent 4 for silver,
the needy for a pair of sandals. 5
5:11 Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops 6
and exact a grain tax from them,
you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone,
nor will you drink the wine from the fine 7 vineyards you planted. 8
12:5 “Because of the violence done to the oppressed, 9
because of the painful cries 10 of the needy,
I will spring into action,” 11 says the Lord.
“I will provide the safety they so desperately desire.” 12
14:4 All those who behave wickedly 13 do not understand – 14
those who devour my people as if they were eating bread,
and do not call out to the Lord.
For the music director; according to the yonath-elem-rechovim style; 16 a prayer 17 of David, written when the Philistines captured him in Gath. 18
56:1 Have mercy on me, O God, for men are attacking me! 19
All day long hostile enemies 20 are tormenting me. 21
140:12 I know 22 that the Lord defends the cause of the oppressed
and vindicates the poor. 23
30:14 There is a generation whose teeth are like 24 swords 25
and whose molars 26 are like knives
to devour 27 the poor from the earth
and the needy from among the human race.
32:6 For a fool speaks disgraceful things; 28
his mind plans out sinful deeds. 29
He commits godless deeds 30
and says misleading things about the Lord;
he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite 31
and gives the thirsty nothing to drink. 32
32:7 A deceiver’s methods are evil; 33
he dreams up evil plans 34
to ruin the poor with lies,
even when the needy are in the right. 35
1 tn For this translation see the note at 2:4.
2 tn Heb “Because of three violations of Israel, even because of four.”
3 tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.
4 tn Or “honest” (CEV, NLT). The Hebrew word sometimes has a moral-ethical connotation, “righteous, godly,” but the parallelism (note “poor”) suggests a socio-economic or legal sense here. The practice of selling debtors as slaves is in view (Exod 21:2-11; Lev 25:35-55; Deut 15:12-18) See the note at Exod 21:8 and G. C. Chirichigno, Debt-Slavery in Israel and the Ancient Near East (JSOTSup). Probably the only “crime” the victim had committed was being unable to pay back a loan or an exorbitant interest rate on a loan. Some have suggested that this verse refers to bribery in legal proceedings: The innocent are “sold” in the sense that those in power pay off the elders or judges for favorable decisions (5:12; cf. Exod 23:6-7).
5 tn Perhaps the expression “for a pair of sandals” indicates a relatively small price or debt. Some suggest that the sandals may have been an outward token of a more substantial purchase price. Others relate the sandals to a ritual attached to the transfer of property, signifying here that the poor would be losing their inherited family lands because of debt (Ruth 4:7; cf. Deut 25:8-10). Still others emend the Hebrew form slightly to נֶעְלָם (ne’lam, “hidden thing”; from the root עָלַם, ’alam, “to hide”) and understand this as referring to a bribe.
6 tn Traditionally, “because you trample on the poor” (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). The traditional view derives the verb from בּוּס (bus, “to trample”; cf. Isa. 14:25), but more likely it is cognate to an Akkadian verb meaning “to exact an agricultural tax” (see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 49; S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 172-73).
7 tn Or “lovely”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “pleasant”; NAB “choice”; NIV “lush.”
8 tn Heb “Houses of chiseled stone you built, but you will not live in them. Fine vineyards you planted, but you will not drink their wine.”
9 tn The term translated “oppressed” is an objective genitive; the oppressed are the recipients/victims of violence.
10 tn Elsewhere in the psalms this noun is used of the painful groans of prisoners awaiting death (79:11; 102:20). The related verb is used of the painful groaning of those wounded in combat (Jer 51:52; Ezek 26:15) and of the mournful sighing of those in grief (Ezek 9:4; 24:17).
11 tn Heb “I will rise up.”
12 tn Heb “I will place in deliverance, he pants for it.” The final two words in Hebrew (יָפִיחַ לוֹ, yafiakh lo) comprise an asyndetic relative clause, “the one who pants for it.” “The one who pants” is the object of the verb “place” and the antecedent of the pronominal suffix (in the phrase “for it”) is “deliverance.” Another option is to translate, “I will place in deliverance the witness for him,” repointing יָפִיחַ (a Hiphil imperfect from פּוּחַ, puakh, “pant”) as יָפֵחַ (yafeakh), a noun meaning “witness.” In this case the
13 tn Heb “all the workers of wickedness.” See Pss 5:5; 6:8.
14 tn Heb “Do they not understand?” The rhetorical question (rendered in the translation as a positive affirmation) expresses the psalmist’s amazement at their apparent lack of understanding. This may refer to their lack of moral understanding, but it more likely refers to their failure to anticipate God’s defense of his people (see vv. 5-7).
15 sn Psalm 56. Despite the threats of his enemies, the psalmist is confident the Lord will keep his promise to protect and deliver him.
16 tn The literal meaning of this phrase is “silent dove, distant ones.” Perhaps it refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a type of musical instrument.
17 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16 and 57-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”
18 sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm when the Philistines seized him and took him to King Achish of Gath (see 1 Sam 21:11-15).
19 tn According to BDB 983 s.v. II שָׁאַף, the verb is derived from שָׁאַף (sha’af, “to trample, crush”) rather than the homonymic verb “pant after.”
20 tn Heb “a fighter.” The singular is collective for his enemies (see vv. 5-6). The Qal of לָחַם (lakham, “fight”) also occurs in Ps 35:1.
21 tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the continuing nature of the enemies’ attacks.
22 tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew
23 tn Heb “and the just cause of the poor.”
24 tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
25 sn There are two figures used in each of these lines: teeth/great teeth and “swords/knives.” The term “teeth” is a metonymy for the process of chewing and eating. This goes with the figure of the second half of the verse that speaks about “devouring” the poor – so the whole image of eating and chewing refers to destroying the poor (an implied comparison). The figures of “swords/knives” are metaphors within this image. Comparing teeth to swords means that they are sharp and powerful. The imagery captures the rapacity of their power.
26 tn Heb “teeth” (so NRSV) or “jaw teeth” (so KJV, ASV, NASB) or perhaps “jawbone.” This is a different Hebrew word for “teeth” than the one in the previous line; if it refers to “jaw teeth” then a translation like “molars” would be appropriate, although this image might not fit with the metaphor (“like knives”) unless the other teeth, the incisors or front teeth, are pictured as being even longer (“like swords”).
27 tn The Hebrew form לֶאֱכֹל (le’ekhol) is the Qal infinitive construct; it indicates the purpose of this generation’s ruthless power – it is destructive. The figure is an implied comparison (known as hypocatastasis) between “devouring” and “destroying.”
28 tn Or “foolishness,” in a moral-ethical sense. See 9:17.
29 tn Heb “and his heart commits sin”; KJV, ASV “his heart will work iniquity”; NASB “inclines toward wickedness.”
30 tn Heb “in order to do [or “so that he does”] what is godless [or “defiled”].”
31 tn Heb “so that he leaves empty the appetite [or “desire”] of the hungry.”
32 tn Heb “and the drink of the thirsty he causes to fail.”
33 tn Heb “as for a deceiver, his implements [or “weapons”] are evil.”
34 tn Or “he plans evil things”; NIV “he makes up evil schemes.”
35 tn Heb “to ruin the poor with words of falsehood, even when the needy speak what is just.”
36 tc The most important
37 tn Literally a series of verbs without connectives, “you have condemned, you have murdered…he does not resist.”